All that Remains
by laceyu
Summary: Cloud leaves Midgar with adventure on his mind, dragging his little sister Serah along for the ride. What inconvinenices could they possibly encounter along the way? CloudXAerith RentonXEureka
1. Chapter 1: The Journey Begins

_Chapter 1- ((pleaseeee review! X( ))_

I never imagined life would be this way…

"I'm really sorry about dragging you here, Serah. It'll only take a second."Cloud said, walking through the hospital's automatic glass doors.

I followed after my brother, staying close in trail, for everywhere we turned, those injured in the bombing of the mako reactor overflowed into the hallways, obviously not being well taken care of. I grabbed Cloud's hand as we forced our way up to the top level through one of the stairwells.

The top floor was in better conditon then below and wasn't affected by the hectic craziness. We searched the room numbers till we found hers.

The one which belonged to Aerith, Cloud's girlfriend.

She was the only one in the silent room. You would think at least the TV would be on or something, but no. She sat propped up, looking down at the sheets, where her hands lay simply folded. Her brown hair was freshly braided back, allowing her glassy green eyes to stand out from the rest of her face. Her eyes didn't move, nor did her body and her face never changed from the same glazed, emotionless expression.

Most would think she was dead, but I knew better. It could all be explained by one thing alone. Desperation disease, an illness that sends its victim into a comatose state where they rest between life and death, neither awake nor dreaming. But in its own sense, the disease not only affects its victims but those close to them, hence the 'despair' is felt by them.

And I knew Cloud must have been suffering from it.

He slowly walked to her bedside and kissed her on the cheek, his bright blue eyes looking with hope. He slipped a small yellow flower into her closed hands. "These flowers were special to you…Tifa said she would take care of them."He turned to face the window, taking a deep breath and continuing, "'I'll come back to you, even if you don't promise to wait. I'll return knowing you'll be here.'…so don't give up on me while I'm gone. I'd never be able to forgive myself."

And with that, he left the room, his head hanging low enough to hide the tears in his eyes, unable to speak.

How I wished I could help him. To take it all away, to cure Aerith and erase the pain. To make all those days where he'd suffer in silence disappear, not leaving a trace. But it's never that simple and never will be. He'd have to turn to a new page on his own.

Walking out of the room, I took one last glance at her, perfectly still and frozen in time. Tears dripped down my face merely by the sight and I just walked away, leaving her there. There was nothing to be done to help her. Cloud took me around the shoulders and we walked back out through the crowded mess.

"Serah…I'm sorry, but I had to say goodbye to her…I couldn't- I wouldn't...I just can't risk losing her." Cloud muttered. He was barely audible over all those screaming and crying in the hospital.

Though, there was one little girl's voice that stood out. Her distinctive bright, pink hair was shaken in front of her face as she flailed about. Her flowery dress and short stature, along with her crying fit made her seem much younger."Where's my brother? Where's Dominic? I know he's here! Where is he?"It took multiple nurses to restrain her, but she didn't let up. She came running down the hallway, bumping into Cloud's leg."You! You know where my brother is! You're wearing SOLDIER armour! Tell me where he is!"she screamed out, crying uncontrollably.

Cloud just placed a hand on her head, comforting her. Dominic was one of the many enlisted at the time to Mako Reactor 8 when the explosion occurred. He knew what had happened but would he really do that to the poor girl?

"Don't worry about him."He said calmly. She cocked her head to one side childishly and ran further down the hallway. He always had a soft spot for children.

"Cloud, you ready to go?"I said quietly, speaking for the first time all day.

"Yeah."He straddled his Hardy-Daytona motorcycle and revved the engine. I hopped into the sidecar he had recently attached for this trip and stuck tight to my seat, knowing too well that Cloud loved to speed. He skidded out of the front parking lot and down to the main roads leading out of Midgar.

Now the real story begins.


	2. Chapter 2

_Chapter 2-_

The great city lights faded behind us and dark gloomy hills replaced the scenery. The sky had dimmed down to lighter shades of reds and violets once twilight had hit, darkening the already dreary fields lining the degrading road. It would be off-road riding soon enough.

I pulled Cloud's old infantryman uniform tighter to my body, keeping the warmth from escaping. He insisted that I wear it at least until we reached our destination. Who knows what he had in store.

"C-Cloud? You never really told me the plan you know…" I said, breaking the deafening silence.

"Well… we're headed back to Nibelheim." His voice was almost lost with the wind.

"Back home?"

"What's left of it at least."

"But why?"

"You'll just have to find out when we get there."

I pouted like a child, not happy with that answer, but I knew better then to bother him again at the moment. I wrapped my arms around my curled legs, staring out at the black road ahead. He was too lazy to get his brights working again.

The sidecar bounced along as we held in our words. Condolences and thoughts rushed through my head as I stared up at Cloud, his goggles reflecting light from the setting sun. I looked back and stared at the pebbles and stones that flew past like stampeding animals.

The roar of the motorcycle was suddenly overcome by the sound of screeching tires. I looked up just as a chasm opened beneath the motorcycle. I felt a hand grab the back of my shirt as I was torn from the speeding vehicle. I continued looking in a daze as the motorcycle flew off the edge of the cliff and plummeted to the darkness below. Cloud and I skid and tumbled across the dirt until we came to a halt at the edge of the road.

Cloud shook off some debris and stood at the edge of the cliff as if nothing unusual happened, looking down into the canyon. The pit was deep. His red eyes must've burned from the oncoming drafts from the fissure.

"Shouldn't there have been dead end signs or something?" I said while holding my arm, noticing the slight blood stain that already was seeping through the sleeve.

The squealing of tires rang out again as a young boy skidded up on another motorcycle. He threw down a kickstand and dismounted his bike, pulling off his helmet. It revealed a head full of brown messy style hair and stunning blue eyes, much like Cloud's.

Running towards us worried, he shouted, "Hey are you ok?"

Cloud stared at me then at him for a moment before replying, "Yeah, a little scratched up, but otherwise fine."

I nodded to Cloud as he helped me up. The boy looked over the cliff and whistled. "Well, looks like your bike isn't in such good condition.

"No kidding, think I could just buff it out?" Cloud joked.

The kid looked at him and smirked, then turned and called to the girl who was on sitting on the back of his bike. "Hey, Eureka! Get over here!"

The person addressed as Eureka dismounted and walked calmly over to wear we were. She had light blue hair which swayed with the oncoming wind. The sunlight reflected off of her golden hairpin blinded me for a second as she looked at the boy who smoothly put his arm around her shoulders.

"My name's Renton if you're curious," he said, "And this is Eureka, my right hand gal." Eureka smiled shyly.

Cloud and I answered in unison, "Nice to meet you."

There was a short pause until Eureka said, "I saw you guys skid along the ground like that and you look pretty scratched up… so if you don't mind I could clean you up a bit."

"Thanks." I said. She led me over to their bike and sat me down, examining my arm. Cloud followed along with Renton, not seeming to be too injured. Eureka rummaged through the compartment on the back of the bike and pulled out a tiny first aid kit.

"So where were you guys headed?" Renton asked.

"We were just heading out from the nearby hospital." I explained.

"Oh, getting a checkup?" Eureka asked.

"No, I'm afraid not. Just visiting a friend." Cloud chimed in.

"That's weird," Renton said, "Midgar, right? Did your friend, by any chance, have desperation disease?"

Cloud looked gloomy and nodded slowly. Renton, seeing the gesture, did likewise and explained, "Yeah, our friend Talho was just checked in about a month ago..."

"It's affecting everyone now a days…" I mentioned with Aerith's face still in mind.

There was silence following, but Renton coughed slightly, not letting it last.

"You know, Bellforest isnt that far from here. A fairly short walking distance. We could help set you up with a new bike there. I would normally offer to give you guys a lift but…" he then motioned back to Eureka who grinned a sweet smile.

"Its no problem. Just point us in the right direction and we'll head over." said Cloud.

Eureka gestured to a town hidden in the mountains, a good 3-4 miles away. "Bellforest isn't a big city, but Renton's a mechanic so he should be able to help you guys."

Renton shrugged and turned away, attempting to be modest, and remounted his motorcycle, Eureka in trail. "We'll see you guys there!" he yelled over the engine, skidding off, nearly leaving us in the dust…literally.

* * *

"Are we there yet?"

"No."

"How much longer?"

"Not long."

"Are we even close to Bellforest?"

"We're not too far."

"Stop thaaaat!"

"What? Breathing?"

I stuck my tongue out at him. His attitude problem was really starting to get to me on our way to Bellforest. He reminded me of how Zack would sometimes act back in the good old days. I tried to keep from thinking about it too much.

A giant field led straight into Bellforest, which kept my mind sightseeing and away from other matters. You could almost feel the trapar waves resounding around you in places like this.

Eureka said the town in front of us wasn't the biggest around, which at the time seemed pretty accurate. The houses didn't look newly made and by the looks of it, the war hadn't hit them either. The town luckly was small enough to not be seen as a threat to the government's plans.

Renton sat outside of his own house, nearly asleep by the time we had arrived. He groggly stood up and invited us to stay the night in a spare guest room out in his garage. Our bodies spoke for us and gladly took up his offer.

To my surprise, though, he led us back to tall building with a vaulted ceiling, a building probably meant to hold something much larger then just a few bikes. I was too tired to question it, though.

He showed us to a room in the back with two comfy-looking beds and a bathroom attached. That was clearly enough for me to be happy. "If you need anything, im over in the house." He said, waving and closing the door behind him.

Cloud and I stared at each other for a moment before we climbed into our beds without saying a word. I let everything flow out from my mind as I answered sleep's beckoning call.


End file.
